Potato Flakes as a Binder

[tabinekotaro]

I would like to make a Whole30-adapted version of the meatballs from the America's Test Kitchen gluten free cookbook.  They swear that the best GF substitute for the traditional panade (milk and bread paste) is potato flakes.  I would never eat these as "food," but would they be permitted as a binder?  I have found a couple brands (Bob's Red Mill, Whole Foods house brand) whose only ingredient is potatoes.

[Tom Denham]

Cooking meatballs with potato flakes is probably okay.

 

Although you are not asking, I will go on to say that making mashed potatoes with potato flakes is not an acceptable extension. My logic here is that we want Whole30ers to learn to cook with real, whole foods. Potato flakes is an okay short cut in making meatballs, but skipping over real, whole potatoes to make mashed potatoes would be going too far off plan in my opinion. 

[Sleeve]

Milk in meatballs...?

[Tom Denham]

Milk in meatballs...?

Never okay.

[Sleeve]

Sorry Tom, I should have posted a picture of myself scratching my head.  That wasn't an on-topic permission question, it was an off topic wonder about how milk ever got into a meatball recipe.  I asked around on that one, even though I worked in a family-run Italian restaurant for 7 years, because Italian is as regional as most ethnic cuisine.

 

I guess if I worked in an Indian restaurant, I might wonder how cashew cream got into tikka masala, but I'll never make it another way.

[tabinekotaro]

Thanks Tom!

 

@Sleeve—Panade, a paste made of bread and milk, is one traditional way of making ground meat creations like meatballs and meatloaf more tender.  

 

http://rebeccajeancatering.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/kitchen-tip-make-your-meatballs-moist-with-panade/

 

Not that I've ever used it myself—I was a 24-year vegetarian and a 12-year vegan until a few months ago, so I've never made meatballs in my adult life.  But I'd like to, and the dehydrated potato flakes were recommended as the best way to get the tenderizing effect without using the bread/milk, neither of which are things I want to put in my body.

[Sleeve]

Mushrooms and coconut flour are another tasty option.  Check out the Sliders recipe at nomnompaleo, maybe ditch the spinach and make them round.  I've made those sliders with every ground meat I can find.  They're pretty wet by the standard recipe even if you pound every last drop of liquid out of the spinach, so they may need less egg or smaller eggs even if you ditch the spinach if you don't want them to schlump into slideresque discs.

 

Topped with some Rao's marinara they're nomtastic.